1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fold and tumble release mechanism for a vehicle seat assembly of an automotive vehicle. More particularly, the invention relates to a release mechanism coupled between a seat back and seat cushion to provide selective pivotal movement of the seat back between an upright seating position and a fold flat position overlying the seat cushion.
2. Description of Related Art
Automotive vehicles typically include one or more seat assemblies having a seat cushion and a seat back for supporting a passenger above a vehicle floor. The seat assembly is commonly mounted to the vehicle floor by a riser assembly. The seat back is typically operatively coupled to the seat cushion by a recliner assembly for providing selective pivotal adjustment of the seat back relative to the seat cushion.
It is commonly known to provide seat assemblies in the 2nd or 3rd row of the vehicle seating compartment. The front portion of seat assembly is commonly pivotally coupled to the vehicle floor and the rear portion releasably latched to the vehicle floor to allow the seat assembly to pivot forwardly to a tumbled position to allow access behind the seat assembly. A release mechanism is generally coupled to the recliner assembly for selectively actuating the recliner assembly to allow pivotal movement of the seat back between the seating and fold flat position and also selectively actuate a latch mechanism coupling the seat assembly to the vehicle floor to allow pivotal movement to the tumbled position. However, current release mechanisms typically include multiple release handles and actuating lever for actuating each of the recliner and latch mechanism to facilitate positioning of the seat assembly in the folded and tumbled positions.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide a release mechanism wherein actuation of a single lever facilitates positioning of the seat assembly in each of the folded and tumbled positions.